Tag Archives: cliffs

Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Oak Tree, Clearing Storm

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Oak Tree, Clearing Storm
A Yosemite valley oak tree with autumn storm clouds swirling around granite cliffs

Oak Tree, Clearing Storm. Yosemite Valley, California. October 28, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A Yosemite valley oak tree with autumn storm clouds swirling around granite cliffs

This may be an almost quintessential Yosemite Valley autumn scene — a bit of golden brown meadow, back-lit black oak tree fall color, granite cliffs, and the clouds of a dissipating early season storm.

This is perhaps my favorite time in the Valley, with a snowy winter day providing the only real competition for that designation. There is an end-of-summer feeling still, especially since the days are often sunny and pleasantly warm. The place is more colorful than at any other time  of year — spring wildflowers may be more diverse, but the masses of leaves are larger. With an early rain storm, the near-dormant waterfalls spring back to life and the Merced River rises. And behind all of the knowledge that winter’s arrival is only weeks away.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.
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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Clearing Autumn Storm Clouds, Sunset

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Clearing Autumn Storm Clouds, Sunset
Swirling clouds from an autumn storm clear from Yosemite Valley cliffs at sunset

Clearing Autumn Storm Clouds, Sunset. Yosemite Valley, California. October 28, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Swirling clouds from an autumn storm clear from Yosemite Valley cliffs at sunset

This is perhaps a bit of a complex photograph, where the subject is not immediately clear, to at least it seems to me. We are looking at some buttresses and terraces high up on the granite walls of Yosemite Valley, as partially revealed by drifting clouds in the wake of an autumn storm. Sunset light colors the clouds just a bit.

I was at the end of a quick two-day visit to the Yosemite area, with business in Oakhurst and then photographing in the Valley. At the end of the day I watched the remnants of a storm begin to clear from the Valley, and I’m always fascinated by what the clouds do in these conditions, drifting and unexpectedly parting to momentarily reveal small bits of the landscape high above the Valley floor.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.
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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Trees, Cliffs, and Clearing Autumn Storm

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Trees, Cliffs, and Clearing Autumn Storm
Autumn storm clouds clear from granite cliffs of Yosemite Valley

Trees, Cliffs, and Clearing Autumn Storm. Yosemite Valley, California. October 28, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Autumn storm clouds clear from granite cliffs of Yosemite Valley

I had a shorter time than usual for my late October Yosemite fall color this year. First off, I had some business to attend to in the town of Oakhurst, along the southern route into the park. I took care of that, drove to the Valley in beautiful fog and rain, photographed for a few hours, and headed back to Oakhurst. (More typically, I’ll stay in the Valley, even if it means camping in the rain.) The next morning I was up early, with good intentions about getting back to the Valley for the first light. But there were too many distractions on the drive — beautiful fall color in the forests, more fog, clouds filling valleys — and I didn’t get there until later.

It was another “interesting” weather day, mostly clearing, but still clouds hanging around. The clouds of autumn and winter are a favorite subject of mine here, so when I stopped to photograph these autumn trees along the edge of a meadow, I think it may have been at least partially an excuse to watch the clouds flowing back and forth along the tall granite walls, momentarily parting to reveal the details of the mountain and then closing up again. Here the faint afternoon sunlight is coming from the left and lighting the trees. The cliff is in shadow, hence that deep bluish tones of the rock, and thinning clouds pass by further up the flanks of the valley walls.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Clearing Autumn Storm

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Clearing Autumn Storm
Clouds swirl around the cliffs of Yosemite Valley as an autumn storm begins to clear

Clearing Autumn Storm. Yosemite Valley, California. October 28, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Clouds swirl around the cliffs of Yosemite Valley as an autumn storm begins to clear

I always make a point of visiting Yosemite Valley right around the very end of October (extending into the start of November) when fall colors come to the Valley — oak, cottonwood, dogwood, and more. This year things were busier than usual, and I was only able to squeeze in an evening and the following day, but it was still beautiful, as always.

Fall color in the Valley is different from that of the aspens on the east side of the Sierra Nevada. Here it is closer to the color of the Sierra foothills and mid-elevation forests. It is also the time of year when the first winter-like storms begin to make it into California from the Gulf of Alaska. This visit coincided with one of those weather fronts, and much of my photography was done in rain, of rain, in the expectation that it would soon return, or in its aftermath. This photograph includes a few of the big, colorful Valley trees, with a backdrop of the cloud-shrouded cliffs.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.